Text And Remarks From American Bar Association Medal Ceremony Honoring Professor Robert Drinan, S.J.

Professor Drinan, left, and American Bar Association President Dennis Archer display Drinan's ABA Medal following an award ceremony at the association's annual convention in Atlanta.

August 9th, Georgetown University Law Center Professor Robert F. Drinan, S.J., joined such American legal luminaries as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thurgood Marshall, and Sandra Day O’Connor when the American Bar Association awarded him its ABA Medal – the organization’s highest honor. The ABA Medal, awarded since 1929, recognizes exceptionally distinguished service to the cause of American jurisprudence.

The following is the ABA’s prepared text that accompanied Drinan’s award:

"For more than half a century, Father Robert F. Drinan has been an esteemed and beloved leader of the bar and a fearless advocate for the powerless and oppressed around the world. Having had not one, but several distinguished careers – as a Jesuit priest, lawyer, congressman, humanitarian and activist, law school dean and professor, author, and an outstanding leader of the bar, Father Drinan has employed his great wisdom and passion for the public good and for the good of the legal profession – and he has done so with great humility and grace.

"For these reasons, and for his lifetime of service in the pursuit of justice, the American Bar Association today confers upon Father Drinan its highest honor, the American Bar Association Medal. The Medal, first awarded seventy-five years ago, honors those who have given conspicuous service to the cause of American jurisprudence.

"Father Drinan’s thirst for knowledge and desire to serve the public has been evident throughout his life. After receiving his B.A. degree in 1942 and his M.A. degree in 1947 from Boston College, he went on to receive his LL.B. in 1949 and his LL.M. in 1950 from Georgetown University Law Center. While at Boston College, he entered the Society of Jesus and in 1953 was ordained a Jesuit priest. From 1956 to 1970, he returned to his alma mater, serving as Dean and Professor of Law at Boston College Law School. From there, he went into politics and for ten years represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 1981, he has been a revered Professor of Law at “Georgetown University Law Center where he focuses on international human rights, constitutional law, civil liberties, professional responsibility and arms control.

"Throughout his career, Father Drinan has heeded the call for human rights and social justice. With unparalleled passion and dedication, he has strived to improve the plight of the disadvantaged and oppressed, and to advance the rule of law throughout the world. He has advanced humanitarian causes as a dedicated and principled Member of Congress and as an exceptional leader of the bar. At the ABA, he was a founding member of the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, serving as chair in 1990-91, and later representing the Section in the House of Delegates (1994-1997). He chaired the Standing Committee on World Order Under Law (1982-1986), and currently serves on the Executive Board of the Human Rights Center. At the state level, he chaired the Committee on the Administration of Justice (1962-1969) of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

"As a notable Member of Congress in the 1970s, Father Drinan served on several influential committees, and chaired the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice from 1979-1981. While in Congress, he participated in official Congressional delegations to Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

"In the 1980s and 1990s, Father Drinan testified several times before Congress on behalf of the ABA, advancing passage of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the ABA’s endorsement of a bill that would give indemnification to the survivors of the Japanese internment camps. During that time, Father Drinan also worked closely with the ABA on the formation of the Legal Services Corporation, which provides low-income people with access to justice. A guiding light in the effort to educate the American public about the injustices in the administration of the death penalty, he has played a crucial role in advancing the ABA’s moratorium on the death penalty. Father Drinan has held countless leadership positions on organizations dedicated to humanitarian causes and to this day is called upon in times of crisis by U.S. presidents and diplomats.

"Father Drinan further engaged his legal and religious backgrounds in the areas of legal ethics and professional responsibility. He founded the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, now widely regarded as the premier periodical devoted to legal ethics. In recognition of his outstanding work in this area, Father Drinan received the ABA’s Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award (1995). Later, he was appointed Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism (1997-2000).

"As a law professor and law school dean, Father Drinan has long been admired by his students. His soft-spoken passion has inspired generations of students to use the law as an instrument for social justice. In gratitude and acknowledgement of this achievement, the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities named its Distinguished Service Award after him and presented him with the first award.

"A prolific writer, Father Drinan has been a regular contributor to law reviews and journals of policy and opinion. He has also authored several books on the legal and moral topics he holds dear. For outstanding achievements throughout his career, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including 21 honorary degrees.

"Today, Father Drinan remains a leading voice in the human rights movement. As an outstanding leader, beloved professor, renowned author and courageous activist, Father Drinan is held in the highest regard by the legal profession and by the downtrodden in this country and across the globe. The presentation of our highest honor to Father Robert Drinan demonstrates our abiding appreciation for his lifelong commitment, conviction, insight and wisdom.”

The following are Professor Drinan’s remarks upon receiving the award:

"For 75 years the American Bar Association has annually expressed its aspirations for justice by giving this award.

"There are many others who are eminently more qualified than I. But I accept this award with pride since it recognizes the achievements of the bench and the bar in America.

"The legal profession in the United States has brought the Common Law of England to heights never achieved or even dreamed of since its beginning in the Magna Carta in 1215.

"The American Bar Association continues to go from victory to victory in its mission to bring the rule of law to every person. But this association is deeply aware that millions of people of moderate means do not receive the legal services they deserve. We are also deeply conscious that women and minorities cannot be said to receive complete justice.

"This dedicated organization is also acutely sensitive to the ever more pressing need for its services in advancing international human rights and the rule of law around the world.

"The 61 recipients of this award remind us of the moral giants who have enriched our profession. But it is painful to note that the list is short on women and contains only one African-American – Justice Thurgood Marshall.

"This award this year honors all the religious, moral, and spiritual forces that have created Anglo-American law and that are now working continuously to emphasize and energize the profound theological truths and values that are at the heart of our jurisprudence.

"You honor in a special way the 24 Catholic law schools in America.

"In this award and in all of its activities the American Bar Association reminds all of us that its central and core purpose is to emphasize the rule of law, the dignity of every human being, the preciousness of international human rights and the sacredness of the law of which we are all ministers.

"Our noble mission in the world was described in the opening paragraph of our first written code of law in the world. This is the message of Hammerabi: the purpose of law is to protect the powerless from the powerful.”